Internal Audit Checklists: Safety, Quality, Compliance and More

In my role as a sales engineer at Onspring, I work with clients and prospects in all types of business roles and industries. Though I’m not an expert in all of the different use cases people bring us, I understand data, processes, efficiencies and collaboration. It’s fun to show the same platform features over and over, but then apply those features directly to a company’s unique situation. We can often mock up specific pieces of their process on the first discussion, immediately showing them value and addressing key pain points of their daily work.

One of these areas I see over and over again is the Audit Checklist. Many of the clients we talk with need an internal audit solution that provides an easier way to generate and complete workpapers, perform testing, pull content from a workpaper library or repository, and customize the data entry points based on the type of workpaper they need to generate. The Onspring Audit & Assurance solution has all of these components, providing a foundation for teams to jump right into the platform and start completing their audit work.

However, we are finding that “audit” often encompasses a broad spectrum of procedures, checkpoints and validations with scope that spans safety, sanitation, compliance, quality assurance in alignment with standards and more. That’s where the Audit Checklist solution comes in. This can be incorporated into the Internal Audit function or exist independently.

The structure is pretty simple:

Audit Checklist Library

This App contains the standard steps that may need to be repeated across multiple assessments or checklists. It’s typically very simple with data points focused on the areas to be assessed, steps to follow or questions to answer.

Checklist Groupings

This App allows you to quickly deploy items from the Audit Checklist Library. Multiple groupings can be applied at once, allowing your end users to create custom assessments or checklists, depending on the need.

Checklist Items

This App stores individual library components, or even ad-hoc items that haven’t or shouldn’t be stored to the library. The structure varies but typically includes:

– The area to be assessed – An assessment value such as pass/fail, yes/no, compliant/not compliant – The assigned and/or actual assessor – Date of assessment – Evidence/attachments

Checklist Assessment

This App presents checklists to end users for completion. It auto-calculates a completion percentage, correct/pass/compliance percentage and an overall completion date. This App is often related to other elements of your enterprise, such as projects, locations, processes, regulations and more.

And that about wraps up the solution! Although simple in structure, the power of the Onspring platform really shines here, including benefits of:

Linkages to other components or solutions in the platform

Auto-creation of schedules and timelines to complete checklist assessments

Dividing responsibility and access among your team members, but having roll-up reporting for overall completion across your team or compliance across your various areas

Providing your team a dashboard of upcoming items based upon their assignments and schedules

Mobile and device-neutral so team members in the field can complete their checklist items on site from a laptop, tablet or smartphone

Analytics for overall pass rate or areas of concern across multiple checklist assessments, connected components and more

The Audit Checklist solution is not only straightforward and easy, but also powerful. We’re hearing sentiments of relief from clients who need it. How could you use the Audit Checklist in your own work? Let me know! I’d love to hear from you.